Etsy Launch Shop and Guest Post with Issabelle Perry
Hey all! Today I'm hosting Issabelle Perry, who could very well be me as an alternate self from the multiverse (we have SO MUCH in common!) and celebrating the launch of her Blind Book Date Etsy shop! Not only are we going to talk to Is about her shop, we're also getting to hear from her about the process of how she writes historical fiction, and how you can too! Her post helped me refresh some, as I'm working on a historical fiction book myself. I hope this inspires you to take a chance on some blind book dates!
And now, without further ado, the interview!
C: Hey Issabelle, welcome back to the Southern Story Scribbler. I hope you enjoy your stay. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you write.
I: Hi, y’all! My name is Issabelle Perry. I’m a Christian history major, novelist, and blogger. Most people recognize me from Teen Writers’ Nook, which is a website my sisters and I co-founded in 2020 to help give writing advice, tips, and encouragement to teen authors. As for what I write, right now I just have a contemporary romance novelette out, but my two main genres are historical fiction and fantasy. For my historical books, I love getting to shine the spotlight on little-known or forgotten moments in history, focusing on twentieth century history. My fantasy projects are top secret right now, but you may be hearing about something soon. *winks* If I had to summarize my stories, it would be this: no matter the genre I’m writing, you can expect thrilling and fun reads about perseverance, grief & healing, hope & redemption, and God’s Light overwhelming our darkest of days.
C: How did you get the idea of doing blind dates with books and selling them on Etsy?
I: So, you see, I may have a slight book-buying problem. (Aside from Cate: I completely sympathize. with this. XD) Anyway, I realized one day that I needed to start passing on books since my shelf couldn’t hold them all. But the thing is, I try my hardest to keep my books in pristine condition so it was hard for me to just toss aside books that looked like they had never been read before, which began the idea to sell them. I tried some things out that didn’t work well before turning to Etsy. I’ve seen “blind dates with a book” going around online, but without knowing what type of content would be in the book, I hesitated to spend $15, $20, even $30 dollars sometimes! I wanted to provide something affordable and trustworthy because you should never have to sacrifice your convictions for the sake of entertainment! Not all my books are “squeaky clean” as everyone has a different definition on what makes something a “clean read” but what sets my shop apart is that if you have certain content concerns, all you have to do is let me know when purchasing a book, and I’ll make sure to send you something that fits your standards!
C: What has been your favorite part of the package-making process?
I: I love getting to wrap and design the book. Each “Blind Date with a Book” that I send out is uniquely wrapped, decorated, and packaged per customer to add a special touch. It’s fun getting to put my (very limited) art skills to the test, and I love getting to add my own touch, to have something that sets my books apart.
C: What genres of books are in your Blind Date packages?
I: Right now, I have a limited stock (but am in the process of building up). A few genres have already been sold out, but I plan to replenish some of them (mostly the Christian romance and MG fantasy categories). I have books in both the Christian and secular markets and in adult, young adult, and middle grade age ranges. Right now, I have a few nonfiction reads, some historical fiction/romance, YA fantasy, YA romance, YA thriller, and MG historical fiction.
C: What “goodies” can one expect to find in your blind date package?
C: When you order a “Blind Date with a Book,” you can expect to receive, along with your novel, 1 bookmark, 1 teabag, 5 stickers, & 1 pen. That way when you’re on your “blind date,” you can sip some tea while reading the book, use the bookmark to hold your place, and have the pen and stickers ready in case you like to annotate or book journal along the way! It has everything ready for a perfect evening with a book!
C: Thanks so much Is! And now guys, here is the guest post! How I Write Historical Fiction Hi, y’all! Surprise, surprise, this is Cate’s alternate self from another dimension!
*crickets chirping*
Okay, so I guess no one is going to believe that, but it’s true that I’m not Cate. Don’t worry, she’ll be returning soon with some more awesome posts, but today she asked me to do a guest post because I’ve just launched an Etsy shop where I’m selling Blind Dates with a Book (and hopefully other exciting things in the future!). Though I love selling books, I’m not just an Etsy seller. I’ve actually been a novelist far longer. I dabble in a variety of genres, but one of my favorites is writing historical fiction. My debut novel coming out next year Don’t Let Me Go, for instance, is a gripping historical fiction novel set in the 1930s Soviet Russia about the oppression of Stalin’s government and the resistance of one man who will not comply. The process of getting from an idea to a full novel can be tricky and difficult. I thought it’d be fun to walk y’all through the entire behind-the-scenes of how my historical fiction novels come to be!
#1 An idea
Because historical fiction is rooted in facts, research, research, and research is a necessity. But first I have to know what I’m looking for. Everything starts with an idea. It can be something small or more complex. For Don’t Let Me Go (henceforth abbreviated as DLMG) it was a time period. I knew I wanted to write something about the beginnings of the Soviet Union and what life was like for the people who lived under this system. My plan was to write something in the early 1920s, right after the Russian Revolution, maybe even focusing on the civil war that had followed. So I took that idea and started searching for information; I was looking for anything that caught my interest that could work in a plot. I love getting to write about little-known aspects of history so this can take a while, especially when I’m uncertain what I want to write about. For instance, in my current researching project, I wanted to write a book about an American soldier in World War 1, so I went browsing through my library’s nonfiction section on history, and instead, I stumbled upon a book about American POWs in World War 2 who escaped from a Japanese death camp. Now I’m following the thread to see what story I can find from this. The same was true for DLMG. I went in expecting to write a book about the Russian civil war, and instead, I found some information about the Gulag (a system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union) and that was where I found my story.
#2 Research
Once I get my idea, now it’s time for all that researching. This is often my favorite part because I’m a huge history buff and I love getting to spend time learning more about history. Sometimes I may start on YouTube to watch some videos that give just a brief overview of the time period I’m writing in so I can familiarize myself with the basics (especially if it’s something I know little about, like 1930s Soviet Union which hasn’t been the setting of that many books or films I’ve seen). I don’t take notes or jot any of the information down yet because it’s not the most credible place for information. This is just to help me wrap my head around whatever I’m supposed to be writing. Then I start looking for books or scholarly articles online. (No matter where you choose to do research at, it’s VERY important that you ensure the information is up to date and the source is credible and reliable. So maybe don’t go learning from Wikipedia. The reason why I add up to date just depends on what you’re researching. For instance, sometimes with information about the Soviet Union, I have to look more current because the Russian archives had been closed until the 1990s and we’re still learning more about this era in history as more resources come out.) I often will read nonfiction books just because I love reading and if I find primary sources, I chose to go to them first because not only do I want the facts, I want to hear how the people who went through these events saw them. For instance, one of the books in the Lost Empire series was about the last Romanovs so I read many of their private letters and diary entries from 1916-1918 to be able to learn not just what happened, but how they responded to it. For DLMG, this was actually the easiest book to find primary sources on as there are many people who survived the Gulag’s cruel system and later wrote about it.
One thing that’s often recommended for historical fiction novelists is to visit the place you’re writing about, but for someone like me, that’s not always possible. For DLMG, the only Gulag camp that has been preserved is Perm-36 in Russia, but I can’t just fly there (plus with the current state of events, I wouldn’t want to at the moment). Instead, I found videos online of travel vloggers who visited Perm-36 and filmed it. I was also able to find a website that virtually reconstructed what a typical camp had looked like and set it up as a virtual tour. It was a great source for reference.
No matter how I find my research, I like to keep a notebook handy to write down facts or ideas I get during the researching process.
#3 Reading!
Another thing I like to do is search for other books that have been written about my chosen topic. I like being able to offer something that feels fresh, new, and original so sometimes I’ll look to see what’s already been done (if I can find similar books) to know I’m doing something new. Even though they say there’s no such thing as original ideas, that it’s all been done before, in historical fiction that may not be as true. There’s so much in history that hasn’t been explored yet or has only been briefly written about that it can be easier finding something new for this genre.
#4 Drafting
I’m a diehard plantser when it comes down to it. I’ve tried to plot before, create an outline and everything, and I’ve stopped every single project I’ve attempted to plot. My brain just isn’t wired to follow a structure, and I often loose interest in my projects if I’m not excited to see what’s going to happen next. I like to learn about my story as I write and let my characters take control. While this often makes for a very messy first draft, what’s important isn’t the state of your first draft but that it’s WRITTEN. This process can take as little as two months to as long as a year, depending on what my life schedule looks like and how invested I am in a project. For instance, my book about the Romanovs (title to be revealed) I wrote in a month and a half but DLMG took me just two months shy of a year.
#5 Editing
Ah, the editing process. This can often times be much longer than the original first draft. Because my first drafts are very messy, I usually rewrite the project from beginning to end. How much changes from draft to draft depends on the project. For my Romanov novel, I did little research before writing draft 1 so by the time I got to draft 2 so much had to be changed to fit all the new things I learned that the novel went from 60K to 100K. DLMG was the opposite. I learned so much before writing that when I went to edit, I realized I was putting too much in that didn’t affect the central point of the story and needed to be cut for pacing sake. After I had a round of beta readers and applied their feedback, the story dropped from over 110K to 90K. After my rewrite, I like to give it to other readers to get their feedback (a team of beta readers usually under 10 people). Then it’s time to do more self-edits before handing it off to an editor.
#6 Publishing
Now this would be the step for publishing, but seeing that I’m still in the editing stage for DLMG, I can’t say much how this will look yet. So maybe I’ll do a follow-up post after DLMG is released!
And there you have it! To be honest, this is just a rough sketch of what it looks like. Often there is even more researching that goes on during the editing and drafting stages as I realize I need to learn more about this subject or that. It can be a long and daunting process, but I find enjoyment in getting to share with others what I’ve learned about the past in a fun, engaging manner. One of my favorite parts is getting to hear readers (okay, so far it’s just been beta readers, but you get the idea) say, I never knew about this or that’s so cool that such and such actually happened. History is full of so many crazy things, you’d be surprised at what you may learn about people in the past and what they did!
(Don’t believe me? Go google “was ketchup used as medicine?”) There you have it, guys! Let's give a big thank-you to Is for coming back to SSS!
Today is actually the last day that you can get 15% off of Issabelle's blind book dates on her Etsy shop. If you want to get in on this, just go to Is' Etsy shop! To learn more about Is, you can visit her Linktree here.
Until next week!
~Cate
And now, without further ado, the interview!
C: Hey Issabelle, welcome back to the Southern Story Scribbler. I hope you enjoy your stay. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you write.
I: Hi, y’all! My name is Issabelle Perry. I’m a Christian history major, novelist, and blogger. Most people recognize me from Teen Writers’ Nook, which is a website my sisters and I co-founded in 2020 to help give writing advice, tips, and encouragement to teen authors. As for what I write, right now I just have a contemporary romance novelette out, but my two main genres are historical fiction and fantasy. For my historical books, I love getting to shine the spotlight on little-known or forgotten moments in history, focusing on twentieth century history. My fantasy projects are top secret right now, but you may be hearing about something soon. *winks* If I had to summarize my stories, it would be this: no matter the genre I’m writing, you can expect thrilling and fun reads about perseverance, grief & healing, hope & redemption, and God’s Light overwhelming our darkest of days.
C: How did you get the idea of doing blind dates with books and selling them on Etsy?
I: So, you see, I may have a slight book-buying problem. (Aside from Cate: I completely sympathize. with this. XD) Anyway, I realized one day that I needed to start passing on books since my shelf couldn’t hold them all. But the thing is, I try my hardest to keep my books in pristine condition so it was hard for me to just toss aside books that looked like they had never been read before, which began the idea to sell them. I tried some things out that didn’t work well before turning to Etsy. I’ve seen “blind dates with a book” going around online, but without knowing what type of content would be in the book, I hesitated to spend $15, $20, even $30 dollars sometimes! I wanted to provide something affordable and trustworthy because you should never have to sacrifice your convictions for the sake of entertainment! Not all my books are “squeaky clean” as everyone has a different definition on what makes something a “clean read” but what sets my shop apart is that if you have certain content concerns, all you have to do is let me know when purchasing a book, and I’ll make sure to send you something that fits your standards!
C: What has been your favorite part of the package-making process?
I: I love getting to wrap and design the book. Each “Blind Date with a Book” that I send out is uniquely wrapped, decorated, and packaged per customer to add a special touch. It’s fun getting to put my (very limited) art skills to the test, and I love getting to add my own touch, to have something that sets my books apart.
C: What genres of books are in your Blind Date packages?
I: Right now, I have a limited stock (but am in the process of building up). A few genres have already been sold out, but I plan to replenish some of them (mostly the Christian romance and MG fantasy categories). I have books in both the Christian and secular markets and in adult, young adult, and middle grade age ranges. Right now, I have a few nonfiction reads, some historical fiction/romance, YA fantasy, YA romance, YA thriller, and MG historical fiction.
C: What “goodies” can one expect to find in your blind date package?
C: When you order a “Blind Date with a Book,” you can expect to receive, along with your novel, 1 bookmark, 1 teabag, 5 stickers, & 1 pen. That way when you’re on your “blind date,” you can sip some tea while reading the book, use the bookmark to hold your place, and have the pen and stickers ready in case you like to annotate or book journal along the way! It has everything ready for a perfect evening with a book!
C: Thanks so much Is! And now guys, here is the guest post! How I Write Historical Fiction Hi, y’all! Surprise, surprise, this is Cate’s alternate self from another dimension!
*crickets chirping*
Okay, so I guess no one is going to believe that, but it’s true that I’m not Cate. Don’t worry, she’ll be returning soon with some more awesome posts, but today she asked me to do a guest post because I’ve just launched an Etsy shop where I’m selling Blind Dates with a Book (and hopefully other exciting things in the future!). Though I love selling books, I’m not just an Etsy seller. I’ve actually been a novelist far longer. I dabble in a variety of genres, but one of my favorites is writing historical fiction. My debut novel coming out next year Don’t Let Me Go, for instance, is a gripping historical fiction novel set in the 1930s Soviet Russia about the oppression of Stalin’s government and the resistance of one man who will not comply. The process of getting from an idea to a full novel can be tricky and difficult. I thought it’d be fun to walk y’all through the entire behind-the-scenes of how my historical fiction novels come to be!
#1 An idea
Because historical fiction is rooted in facts, research, research, and research is a necessity. But first I have to know what I’m looking for. Everything starts with an idea. It can be something small or more complex. For Don’t Let Me Go (henceforth abbreviated as DLMG) it was a time period. I knew I wanted to write something about the beginnings of the Soviet Union and what life was like for the people who lived under this system. My plan was to write something in the early 1920s, right after the Russian Revolution, maybe even focusing on the civil war that had followed. So I took that idea and started searching for information; I was looking for anything that caught my interest that could work in a plot. I love getting to write about little-known aspects of history so this can take a while, especially when I’m uncertain what I want to write about. For instance, in my current researching project, I wanted to write a book about an American soldier in World War 1, so I went browsing through my library’s nonfiction section on history, and instead, I stumbled upon a book about American POWs in World War 2 who escaped from a Japanese death camp. Now I’m following the thread to see what story I can find from this. The same was true for DLMG. I went in expecting to write a book about the Russian civil war, and instead, I found some information about the Gulag (a system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union) and that was where I found my story.
#2 Research
Once I get my idea, now it’s time for all that researching. This is often my favorite part because I’m a huge history buff and I love getting to spend time learning more about history. Sometimes I may start on YouTube to watch some videos that give just a brief overview of the time period I’m writing in so I can familiarize myself with the basics (especially if it’s something I know little about, like 1930s Soviet Union which hasn’t been the setting of that many books or films I’ve seen). I don’t take notes or jot any of the information down yet because it’s not the most credible place for information. This is just to help me wrap my head around whatever I’m supposed to be writing. Then I start looking for books or scholarly articles online. (No matter where you choose to do research at, it’s VERY important that you ensure the information is up to date and the source is credible and reliable. So maybe don’t go learning from Wikipedia. The reason why I add up to date just depends on what you’re researching. For instance, sometimes with information about the Soviet Union, I have to look more current because the Russian archives had been closed until the 1990s and we’re still learning more about this era in history as more resources come out.) I often will read nonfiction books just because I love reading and if I find primary sources, I chose to go to them first because not only do I want the facts, I want to hear how the people who went through these events saw them. For instance, one of the books in the Lost Empire series was about the last Romanovs so I read many of their private letters and diary entries from 1916-1918 to be able to learn not just what happened, but how they responded to it. For DLMG, this was actually the easiest book to find primary sources on as there are many people who survived the Gulag’s cruel system and later wrote about it.
One thing that’s often recommended for historical fiction novelists is to visit the place you’re writing about, but for someone like me, that’s not always possible. For DLMG, the only Gulag camp that has been preserved is Perm-36 in Russia, but I can’t just fly there (plus with the current state of events, I wouldn’t want to at the moment). Instead, I found videos online of travel vloggers who visited Perm-36 and filmed it. I was also able to find a website that virtually reconstructed what a typical camp had looked like and set it up as a virtual tour. It was a great source for reference.
No matter how I find my research, I like to keep a notebook handy to write down facts or ideas I get during the researching process.
#3 Reading!
Another thing I like to do is search for other books that have been written about my chosen topic. I like being able to offer something that feels fresh, new, and original so sometimes I’ll look to see what’s already been done (if I can find similar books) to know I’m doing something new. Even though they say there’s no such thing as original ideas, that it’s all been done before, in historical fiction that may not be as true. There’s so much in history that hasn’t been explored yet or has only been briefly written about that it can be easier finding something new for this genre.
#4 Drafting
I’m a diehard plantser when it comes down to it. I’ve tried to plot before, create an outline and everything, and I’ve stopped every single project I’ve attempted to plot. My brain just isn’t wired to follow a structure, and I often loose interest in my projects if I’m not excited to see what’s going to happen next. I like to learn about my story as I write and let my characters take control. While this often makes for a very messy first draft, what’s important isn’t the state of your first draft but that it’s WRITTEN. This process can take as little as two months to as long as a year, depending on what my life schedule looks like and how invested I am in a project. For instance, my book about the Romanovs (title to be revealed) I wrote in a month and a half but DLMG took me just two months shy of a year.
#5 Editing
Ah, the editing process. This can often times be much longer than the original first draft. Because my first drafts are very messy, I usually rewrite the project from beginning to end. How much changes from draft to draft depends on the project. For my Romanov novel, I did little research before writing draft 1 so by the time I got to draft 2 so much had to be changed to fit all the new things I learned that the novel went from 60K to 100K. DLMG was the opposite. I learned so much before writing that when I went to edit, I realized I was putting too much in that didn’t affect the central point of the story and needed to be cut for pacing sake. After I had a round of beta readers and applied their feedback, the story dropped from over 110K to 90K. After my rewrite, I like to give it to other readers to get their feedback (a team of beta readers usually under 10 people). Then it’s time to do more self-edits before handing it off to an editor.
#6 Publishing
Now this would be the step for publishing, but seeing that I’m still in the editing stage for DLMG, I can’t say much how this will look yet. So maybe I’ll do a follow-up post after DLMG is released!
And there you have it! To be honest, this is just a rough sketch of what it looks like. Often there is even more researching that goes on during the editing and drafting stages as I realize I need to learn more about this subject or that. It can be a long and daunting process, but I find enjoyment in getting to share with others what I’ve learned about the past in a fun, engaging manner. One of my favorite parts is getting to hear readers (okay, so far it’s just been beta readers, but you get the idea) say, I never knew about this or that’s so cool that such and such actually happened. History is full of so many crazy things, you’d be surprised at what you may learn about people in the past and what they did!
(Don’t believe me? Go google “was ketchup used as medicine?”) There you have it, guys! Let's give a big thank-you to Is for coming back to SSS!
Today is actually the last day that you can get 15% off of Issabelle's blind book dates on her Etsy shop. If you want to get in on this, just go to Is' Etsy shop! To learn more about Is, you can visit her Linktree here.
Until next week!
~Cate
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